Madlen Hirtentreu just loves photographing bins

They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. For one Estonian photographer, trash isn’t just treasure, but a rich, and possibly stinky font of creative inspiration. Madlen Hirtentreu got in touch recently with a simple missive: “I usually capture images with [an] analog camera and lately started to photograph trash bins in the early mornings… have a look.” There’s not too much more to say about the project really, but have a look we did, and found something oddly compelling about these pictures of dustbins. Each overspilling vessel tells a story go what once was: the parties, the shared pizzas, the lunches grabbed on the go, the mop cast aside for a newer, shinier number. It’s rather poignant in a way, but rather comical too. Essentially though, it’s just pictures of bins, and there’s nothing really too wrong with that.